At the bottom of this page you will find an attachment called 'DL Envelope', which is set up for printing, well, DL Envelopes... These are the envelopes which are A4 wide and 1/3 of A4 in height.

The template will work with any other envelope which is roughly A4 in width and not much taller than a DL envelope. The envelopes for most large cards, for example, will print just fine. For smaller or much larger envelopes you will need different templates. Just send me the dimensions and I'll prepare one for you.

Using the template, the envelope needs to be fed on its side (and facing up). You will need to experiment a little to find out which side (left or right) should be fed into the printer. Probably the best way to use the template is to open it, put the return address into the document and then save it as a template (there is an option in File=>Save As... to change the document type). It would probably be best if we did this over the phone the first time, so you feel comfortable with the process. Thereafter, just create a new document using the DL Envelope template, type or paste the recipient's address into it, and print!

Labels purchase advice

There is no dearth of suitable labels. Any labels marked 'suitable for inkjet printers' will do, and you have the choice of wide (99.1mm) or narrow (63.5mm) address labels. Either is wide enough to cope with most addresses. Here are two types available from Amazon:

Points arising from visit of 20/10/10

Cleaning products for: computer screen; keyboard: ordered from Amazon

New printer: recommend Pixma MP560 (£89.99 from Amazon) or Pixma MP640 (£109.99 from Amazon). Both inc. VAT and delivery).If cartridges are needed before then, consider compatibles, such as these which cost £6.95 for 2 sets!

Slide scanning: established that it makes no economic sense to buy a slide scanner at present (cheapest ones are around £30-100, and better ones would cost much more). However, there are companies on the internet that offer this service (we looked at 1Scan) for a very reasonable free or around £3 per slide.

Opening up some ex-University files : it appears that most (or all) simply require adding '.doc' to the filename. Also demonstrated that a file can be opened by dragging it onto the program of choice on the dock.

Disposal of old kit: bin old cartridges, floppy discs etc. (larger items such as computers and printers should be taken to he tip, where it will be recycled or disposed of properly).

Skype: decided not to use on grounds of privacy/security (date of birth must be displayed with profile) and other issues.

Laptop: couldn't find adapter, so no progress. HB thinks it's at home and will look for it. OJ checked on the internet and found adapters can be purchased for £15-30. To be reassessed at another oportunity.

Security: Norton AV is OK and the machine is adequately protected. Firefox is not a firewall but a web browser (like Safari), but this is not a problem.

Backup/Dropbox: there's no current backup strategy. OJ recommended Dropbox for most important data (written documents). Unfortunately, it is only compatible with OS 10.4 and above, so the iMac would either need to be upgraded (at a cost of £100+) or a different backup solution found.

TeamViewer: could not install as it is only compatible with OS 1.4 and above.

War memorial j-pegs need to be organised more effectively: not had time to discuss. Next time?

iMac upgrade: discussed this at some length. The benefit needs to be weighed against the costs.

The main benefits are:

More up-to-date software is available. Applications such as Dropbox, TeamViewer, a newer version of iPhoto or a new web browser can be installed.

New hardware can be used. New hardware (e.g. printers) requires new drivers, and these will often not support old systems (case in point - most current Canon and Epson printers will only work with 10.4 or newer).

Costs:

Software (Mac OS 10.4 'Tiger' or better yet 10.5 'Leopard') will have to be bought on eBay, probably for around £65.

The new software will use more memory, so an additional 1GB will be required, available from this
web page for around £40.

Labour: installation of memory and upgrading the software is likely to take a couple of hours - £60.